Nail straightening pliers



Feb. 17, 1953 w. c. HAND 2,528,519

NAIL STRAIGHTENING PLIERS Filed Feb. 15, 1949 2 Sl-[EETS-Sl-IEET 1INVENTOR WILFRED 0. HAND A ORNEY Feb. 17, 1953 w. 0. HAND 2,628,519

NAIL STRAIGHTENING PLIERS Filed Feb. 15, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTORWILFRED 0. HAND ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE NAIL STRAIGHTENING PLIERS Wilfred- 0. Hand, Mountainside, N. )5.

ApplicationfFebruary 15, 1949,.Seria1No. 761521 1 Claim. .1

'I'his'inventionrelates toimprovements in tools of the type suitable forstraightening nails and the like.

The invention is concerned with a plier form of tool by means of whichnails and-the like even when acutely bent can'be easily brought back tosubstantially straight "condition.

A further object-of the invention is-to provide a construction in a'nailstraightener such "that the bent nail is substantially prevented fromflying out ofthe plier'during the straightening operation.

Still another object ofthe'invention is to provide a form of nailstraightener by means of which it is impossibleto'overstraighten'thenail and thus bend it in'the opposite direction.

Still another object'of the inventionvis toprovide a nail straightenerin-theform of a plier by means of which thenail' may "be sprungsufficiently beyond a straight*line' conditionduring straightening inorder to allow-for-springiness of of the metal of the'nail soithatuponthe-release of straightening pressure'it will 'spring backtosubstantially straight line formation.

A more detailed object of the invention is to provide means in acommonform of known plier whereby to impart tosuch plieranail'straightening function.

A still more specific-object of the invention is to provide a pairof'aligned-spaced seats for the nail, one seat being formedto receivethe head of the nail and'hold it against ejection'by reason of theapplication of the forceswhich'straighten it.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description of the two embodiments-of theinvention i1-lustrated in the attached drawings.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationSerialNo. 39,725, filed July 20, 1948, for Tool, and later abandoned.

In the attached drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of one form of nailstraightening'plier embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is a lefthand end elevational view thereof with a portion ofthe jaw'broken away showing relative position of the plier parts-and abent nail at the beginning of thestraightening operation;

Figure 3 is a similar view showingthe nail after it has beenstraightened;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of this plier with the lever arms swung sothat'the clamping jaws are wide open;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the inventionin which, the function of nail straightening has, been imparted to astandard form of plier by modification of its construc- 2tion'andshowing the position of the parts when a bent nail is insertedready for straightening;

Figure 6 is asimilar view witha portion of the plier brokenaway showingthe nail at the end of the straightening operation;

Figure '7 is a top plan view of this form of the invention showing theplier arms swung wide open;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure l of a still further modified formof nail straightening plier showing the alignedseats for the naildisplaced outwardly from the member of the plier carrying the other seatto-permit use of the tool in straightening larger nailsthan'in the caseof the structure of Figures 5, 6 and '7 and Figure 9 is a view similarto Figure 6 of this final modification illustrating the specialconstruction of the nail head receiving seat to prevent ejectionof thenail during straightenin The -co'nstruction-of Figures 1 to 4 inclusivecomprises a pair of levers I and} pivotal'ly connected together by abolt -3'thereby defining suitably shaped handles 4 and 5 respectivelyand clamping or gripping jaws or heads 6 and i respectively. Secured tothe inner face at the end of the clamping head 1 is an elongated metalb-lockwhich serves as an anvil on which the bent nail N is placed. Theanvil 8 is provided on its top surface with a longitudinal groove [0*extending fromen d-to end, which groove is relieved-or deepenedintermediate itsends, as indicated at l l in the several figures. Anopposed inner ;face of the clamping head 6 is-provided witha groove 9 toengage the bent'nail N, asshown in Fig. 2

at the high point of its curvature.

In order to use this plier the curved nail N is placed on the anvil asindicated in Figure 2 and engaged in the groove 9 of the head 6 bymoving the handle ends of the levers towards each other until the nailis gripped between them. Pressure is applied to the handles? and 5,causing the heads 6 and l to approach eachother and forcing the naildownwardly to a straightened position, asindicated'in Figure 3.Therelieved portion H of the groove IE) isprevided-so that the nail endcan be overbent an amount corresponding to the springiness'of the metalso that when the pressure is relieved thereon itwill return to asubstantially straight condition. As-indicat'ed in Figures? and 4,'f01shorter lighter nails the headmay be rested againstthe shoulderresulting from relieving the grooved-face of the-anvil--8-, as indicatedat H. As the nail is --forced to a straight condition itspointed end:will slide along theanvil to allow for the 'efiective lengthening ofthe nail as it is straightened. -For larger nails especially, as it ispreferable to have the high point of the bend atthe longitudinal centerof thegroovee, thehead can lee-rested tothe left of the shoulder, thatis the left of the position shown in Figure 2, in which case as the nailis straightened and effectively increased in length both ends may slidein the groove I as it is straightened.

As distinguished from the nail straightening of Figures 1 to 4 inclusivewhich in one view may be considered to be a special tool suitable mainlyfor straightening nails, the plier of Figures 5 to '7 inclusive can, asillustrated, be a standard form of plier, which is sometimes known as aslip-joint plier. This standard plier, provided with two pairs of flutedor roughened gripping surfaces, is modified to adapt it forstraightening nails. This plier comprises a pair of levers and 2|pivotally connected together by means of a pivot pin 22 and formed toprovide the operating handles 23 and 24 respectively of the grippingheads 25 and 29 respectively. Such plier is modified,

in accordance with this invention, by notching the region of the lever2! adjacent the pivot pin 22 as shown in Figure 6 at 27. These notches,as more clearly shown in Figure 7, include a series of transversegrooves and a single longitudinal groove intersecting all of thetransverse grooves. The Working faces of the heads 25 and 26 are thefull width of the material of the levers 20 and 2 l, which are each cutaway in the region of the pivotal pin 22, as shown in Figure '7, so thatthe inner face of the head 25, which is transversely fluted orroughened, can be provided with a longitudinal groove 28 which alignswith the grooves 2']. Likewis the inner face of the gripping head 26which is also normally transversely fluted or roughened is provided witha longitudinal notch 29 which is also in line with the grooves 21 and28. As a result of this modification of a standard slip-joint plier, abent nail N may be gripped between the heads 25 and 26 as shown inFigure 5, with the head of the nail lying in one of the transversegrooves 21, as shown in Figure 5. The high point of the bent nail restsin the groove 28 and the pointed end rests in the groove 29. As thehandles 23 and 24 are forced towards each other causing the grippingheads 25 and 26 to move towards closed position, the nail N will bebrought back to a straight condition, as shown in Figure 6. As the nailis brought back to straightened condition the head N being held againstmovement in the grooves 27, its pointed end can slide in the groove 29to allow for its efiective increase in length.

The modified plier of Figures 8 and 9 is hasically the plier of Figures5, 6 and 7 but is to be distinguished therefrom in several aspects. Theanvil 30 formed on the plier part 2621 has been extended longitudinallyas compared with the corresponding part of the smaller plier to adaptthe tool for straightening larger nails. This anvil 30 is provided witha groove assembly 27, as before. As clearly shown in Figure 8, thealigned nail receiving seats 21, 2B and 29 have been spaced outwardlywith respect to the center line of the anvil 30, adapting the tool forstraightening larger nails in that more clearance is given with respectto the opposed face of the plier member 23-45. As in the case of theprevious plier, the

seat 21 consists of a longitudinal groove having a series of transverseserrations.

As clearly depicted in Figure 9, these transverse serrations form a sortof saw tooth formation in which the crests of the teeth which willengage the nail shanks, are sharp so as to bite into the shanks-andprevent the nails slipping or'snapping out; of the slot provided by the.

4 groove. This distinguishes from the transverse serrations of thecomparable plier Figures 5 to '7 inclusive, in that their crests areflat. This formation of the transverse serrations insures that under thestraightening forces applied to the nail it will be impossible for thenail to spring from its seat, a result that might be hazardous. Uponconsideration it will be seen that the intermediate pressure applyingseat of the member 23-25 of the plier rotating aboirt the pivot point 22as the nail is straightened moves longitudinally of the nail, which factis demonstrated by a scufiing of the surface of the nail as this seatmoves longitudinally of the nail. The longitudinal component of thestraightening force tends pull the head of the nail from its seat andthis special formation of transverse serrations insures against itsspringing from the plier. The serrations of the previous plier with flatcrests do not grip the nail so as to completely insure against a nailjumping free. As shown in Figures 8 and 9 there is a flat land at 21' tostrengthen the anvil at that corner to prevent its chipping whenstraightening a nail with a bend near its head If it is necessary toplace the nail head in the first transverse serration, the anvil mightchip without the flattened shoulder 2?.

From the above description of the two embodiments of the inventionherein disclosed it will be apparent that the subject matter thereof iscapable of embodiment in other physical forms, and I do not, therefore,desire to be strictly limited to the examples herein given. Rather Iprefer to be limited only as required by the scope of the claim grantedme. I w

What is claimed is:

A tool as described comprising a pair of levers forming gripping headsat one end and handles at the other, a pivot pin for connecting saidlevers together between their heads and handles, a pair oflongitudinally spaced and aligned seats formed on one of said grippingheads and lying in the same plane, one of said seats being adjacent saidpivot pin, the gripping head carrying said seats being relieved betweensaid seats, and a seat formed on the other of said gripping heads andaxially positioned opposite the relieved portion between said pair ofseats, each of said seats having a longitudinal groove, all of which arealigned, and said seat adjacent said pivot pin having at least onetransverse groove intersecting the longitudinal groove of that seat.

WILFR-ED C. HAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

